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Summary at the top: > This well, the Red Hill shaft, is one of three that provides water to residents on the Joint Base Pearl Harbor and Hickam (JBPHH) on the

Summary at the top: > This well, the Red Hill shaft, is one of three that provides water to residents on the Joint Base Pearl Harbor and Hickam (JBPHH) on the island of Oʻahu. For weeks, families living on the base registered complaints of a gasoline smell and taste in their water and illnesses ranging from vomiting to headaches, stomach pain, burning skin, and diarrhea. Initially, the navy dismissed residents’ concerns, but later admitted the water was unsafe for consumption and relocated more than 3,000 families to hotels. Because the navy shares an aquifer with the Board of Water Supply, officials worry that contamination in navy water wells could affect the city of Honolulu’s drinking water as well. So: the people currently affected all live on the navy base. But the concern (not yet proven) is that this spill may affect the city water supply. Certainly concerning... do we know how to clean an aquifer if it becomes contaminated like this?

giantg2 5y ago
Not that I'm aware of. I guess they'll probably end up with special filtration or a desalination plant before they could ever clean an aquifer.
warner25 5y ago
This is essentially right. I'll add the caveat that the Navy's water system apparently reaches many houses and businesses that you wouldn't call "on the navy base." Watching that unfold was painful, like when a network goes down and the operators clearly don't know their own network. This includes housing neighborhoods for other military service members (i.e. Army, Coast Guard) who work elsewhere, run by a different property manager, and neighborhoods that were transferred back to the civilian community 10-20 years ago. As mentioned in my other comment, what's most scary is that there's still no solid theory of what happened and when. We aren't sure of the chemicals, the amounts, the timeline, or the mechanism by which the chemicals got into the water. The story keeps changing, and never really adds up. So it does seem quite possible that the whole aquifer is at risk. The city plans to avoid drawing from this portion of the aquifer for several years now.

giantg2 5y ago

Not that I'm aware of. I guess they'll probably end up with special filtration or a desalination plant before they could ever clean an aquifer.

warner25 5y ago

This is essentially right. I'll add the caveat that the Navy's water system apparently reaches many houses and businesses that you wouldn't call "on the navy base." Watching that unfold was painful, like when a network goes down and the operators clearly don't know their own network. This includes housing neighborhoods for other military service members (i.e. Army, Coast Guard) who work elsewhere, run by a different property manager, and neighborhoods that were transferred back to the civilian community 10-20 years ago. As mentioned in my other comment, what's most scary is that there's still no solid theory of what happened and when. We aren't sure of the chemicals, the amounts, the timeline, or the mechanism by which the chemicals got into the water. The story keeps changing, and never really adds up. So it does seem quite possible that the whole aquifer is at risk. The city plans to avoid drawing from this portion of the aquifer for several years now.